Photo: The Carlisle Kid · CC BY-SA 2.045% of households are one person living alone, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
At 2 people, the average household compares with 2.1 across Scotland’s towns. Still, 46% of residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 83% of UK towns. Oban had 7,994 residents in 3,975 households at the 2022 Census. Households in flats: 48% of the total.
Above 57% of UK towns: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2022.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 20%, against 19% across Scotland’s towns. What’s more, with a median age of 44, Oban is younger than 54% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Scotland’s towns. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.9% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Oban, 44. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Scotland, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 3.8% in Oban, less than in 90% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2022 Census (the NS-SEC classes).
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Managerial and professional jobs take in 28% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 33% (Scotland’s towns: 33% and 25%). Elsewhere, 9.4% of adults are full-time students across Scotland’s towns.
Only 21% of households in Oban have dependent children
Household make-up at the 2022 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Argyll and Bute’s towns and Scotland’s towns
People per household
Scotland’s towns.
3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across Scotland’s towns. The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 24% across Scotland’s towns.
10% of households live in a terraced house, fewer than in 89% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2022. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
At 29%, the share of households without a car or van is in line with the figure across Scotland’s towns. On the census count, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house. Households in terraced houses: 19% across Scotland’s towns, for comparison.
More residents born abroad than 71% of UK towns: 9.2% in Oban
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2022.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 15%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (6%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.1%). Residents whose main language is English are rarer here than in 79% of UK towns. By way of comparison, just over one in ten residents were born outside the UK across Scotland’s towns. Nearly a third of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 34% across Scotland’s towns.
46% describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 76% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2022 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 90% of Oban · Argyll and Bute’s towns 93% · Scotland’s towns 86%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (7.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Bangladeshi (0.3%). Fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 90%. Against that, 39% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Scotland’s towns.
38% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 94% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 3 and over), Census 2022.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 3 and over
With adults who have never married at 41%, Oban is ahead of 92% of UK towns on that count. Across Oban, 11% of residents give unpaid care. Set beside that, just over two in five adults are married or in a civil partnership across Scotland’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2022.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 32% across Scotland’s towns, 27% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (17%).
180th lowest median age among 425 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000
Median age, Census 2022. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tidworth (28.4) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Oban in age: Lydney (44), Great Wakering (44), Crofton (44.1) and Corsham (44.1).
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Argyll and Bute’s towns” and “Scotland’s towns” mean their towns. Census comparisons pool every locality in Argyll and Bute (or Scotland), summed the same way as Oban’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. National Records of Scotland adjusts small Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Oban’s residents
What is the population of Oban?
The 2022 Census counted 7,994 people in Oban’s locality.
What is the average age in Oban?
The median age was 44 at the 2022 Census, younger than 54% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Oban?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2022, against 86% across Scotland’s towns and 93% across Argyll and Bute’s towns. 9.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Oban?
46% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2022 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Oban good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2022, against 24% across Scotland’s towns. Schools are on Oban’s schools page.
Sources: Scotland’s Census 2022 (National Records of Scotland), output areas summed to the NRS 2022 locality (UV101b, UV103, UV104, UV113, UV201, UV204b, UV205, UV212, UV301, UV402, UV405, UV406, UV501, UV607, UV801). Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.